


A Mindlout Christmas Eve

by kirkwords



Category: DreamWorks Dragons (Cartoon), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Christmas Eve, Christmas fic, F/F, F/M, Modern AU, references to drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:00:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28278009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kirkwords/pseuds/kirkwords
Summary: PERTH 4:37PM, DECEMBER 24Current Temp. - 30CExpected High - 35CBringing out his phone, he converted the temperature and sighed heavily, cursing under his breath. This was going to be a warm vacation.
Relationships: Atali/Nadia (How To Train Your Dragon), Snotlout Jorgenson/Minden
Comments: 3
Kudos: 3





	A Mindlout Christmas Eve

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Holidays!  
> This was maybe the most indulgent fic I've ever written. I've tried chucking in as many references to AUS/NZ as I can, so enjoy!

He had never experienced humidity quite like Perth Airport. Air conditioning had been assaulting him from the moment he stepped out of the terminal gate, but it was still incredibly hot. Arguably, he’d never liked winter Christmases either, the cold always effected him more than the heat. It was probably a Southern thing, he figured. Snotlout glanced at an electronic display on the wall. It had a list of different time zones and a glowing sun graphic in the top corner, clearly emulating the current weather outside. 

PERTH 4:37PM, DECEMBER 24

Current Temp. - 30C

Expected High - 35C

Bringing out his phone, he converted the temperature and sighed heavily, cursing under his breath. This was going to be a warm vacation. The man next to him on the plane had warned him about the heat in Australia, being a Queensland native himself. Snotlout had taken the advice on, but didn’t think too much of it. It’s not like he didn’t know it wasn’t going to be winter, Minden’s friend Atali had given him an unneeded heads-up about hemispheres when he was packing. She was also meant to be picking him up, but he couldn’t see her anywhere. His eyes scanned the room, people all around him greeting their family and friends after a long flight. 

“Hey, Jorgenson,” Atali waved him down, holding a countries flag that looked similar to the one that had been on his ticket information. A Union Jack in the upper left hand corner, but with four red stars instead of six white ones.

“What’s with the flag?”

“Didn’t want anyone to think I was an Aussie,” she remarked, also flashing him her tank top and shorts, black with a large silver plant across the front. “I told Nadia I wouldn’t go all out, but the singlet was just too good to not wear. Also, it’s bloody hot today.” Snotlout nodded, and looked down at what he was wearing. It was nothing extravagant, but he might as well have been wearing pajamas. 

“So now you look like you walked out of an All Blacks game?”

“More Silver Ferns, but yeah,” Atali laughed. Snotlout had spent weeks after meeting Atali to learn the cultural and national differences between Australia, where his girlfriend Minden was from and New Zealand, the homeland of her best friend Atali. He was threatened 7 ways to Sunday by both of them to not get anything too wrong. Together, the pair dragged Snotlout’s luggage out to Atali’s car, and, both wincing at the burning seats and seatbelts, made their way out of the busy airport. Snotlout remarked over the radio that he was happy Atali was driving instead of him, as the different side of the road was really throwing him off. 

“Then just shut your eyes and listen to the music. We’re going to my place first anyway.” Atali pulled onto the main highway, and Snotlout shut his eyes. The warm sun on his face mixed with the Christmas songs, many of which he did recognise gave him an odd comfort he didn’t expect. The jet lag began to set in and he drifted off to sleep. 

Atali woke him up when they arrived at her house. She had only moved here a couple of years ago, but the lifestyle change wasn’t hard to get used to, she explained, unlocking the door. Snotlout was once again assaulted by air conditioning, he’d have to get used to that. Atali showed him to his room, a small side room off the lounge. He would be staying with Atali and her girlfriend Nadia since Minden was spending the holidays with her parents, and didn’t even know he was in the country. 

“So Mindo has no idea I’m even here?” He flopped onto the couch, and turned back to Nadia, who was walking around the kitchen. 

“Nope. She’s invited us around for dinner and drinks at her folks tonight though. I hope you brought togs.” Nadia told him, packing what he could only assume was alcohol into a blue insulated bag. It looked like there had been a logo on there at some point, but it had flaked off. He could still make out a faint ‘Woolies’ on the fabric. 

“Togs?”

“Oh right, American.” She looked up from what she was doing. Atali gave her a shrug. “Swimmers, swimsuit, whatever you call it.”

“They have a pool?”

Nadia hummed in agreement, and continued packing. Snotlout hadn’t expected a mild language barrier amongst other English speakers, but it was there nonetheless, and he was the one that was always going to need the translation. He spent the next hour or so while Nadia and Atali got all the things together to go texting his friends back in the States. He confided in his cousin, who was bundled up in Canada with his family for the holidays, that he was mildly terrified of meeting her parents. Hiccup offered no words of encouragement, just a selfie of him and his fiancé Astrid giving him a thumbs up with the caption ‘You Got This!’. 

“Snotlout!” Atali’s voice rang out across the house “We’re going!” He rolled off the couch and slipped his phone into his pocket. He got back into the furnace of their car, being squished in the back seat with the blue bag from earlier and another two bags. One was a bag of towels and swimsuits, and the other was a bag of food. He could see a white cake looking dessert sitting on top. It was topped with cream and fruit, namely strawberries and kiwis. Upon asking, he’d wished he hadn’t. It resulted in him learning that it was a Pavlova, and that Atali had very strong opinions on the fact it was not Australian. Snotlout slid down in his seat and avoided eye contact until they arrived at their destination. 

Minden’s mother met the trio out the front of the house, and greeted Snotlout. She was very kind and commented that he was nicer than most of the boys Minden had gone to school with. 

“Well, your daughter kind of whipped me into shape.” He replied, carrying the food bag into the house. Atali laughed behind them, knowing that it was the truth. Minden was sitting out on the back porch with her father, in an element Snotlout had never seen, relaxed and confident. Her hair was out, and hung down the back of the chair. She was wearing a colourful one piece swimsuit, with a coverup draped over her shoulders. She turned around to wonder who her father was now staring at, and practically jumped into his arms. 

“You’re here! I thought you were home for the holidays.”

Snotlout shook his head. He was about to make a snide reply, but Minden cut him off with a kiss. Her dad wolf whistled and made his way over to formally greet Snotlout. Hiccup was right, he did have this. They were just normal people, not an impending force that could end his vacation within seconds. 

They had dinner, a small roast, and the desserts Nadia had made, then spent the evening out the back, drinks in hand and covered head to toe in sunscreen, reapplying it every hour. Minden dragged Snotlout into the pool as it got later, to avoid the mosquitoes and sandflies. Atali and Nadia joined them as the sun sank below the horizon. He made a mental note to make longer trips to Australia in the future. It was the nicest Christmas Eve he’d ever had.


End file.
